How To Face The Darkness

 

...and by His light

I walked through darkness.

             Job 29. 3

Job's friends focused on

his circumstances

and what he did 

          to be struggling like that.

Job focused on

   getting through the unspeakable

          with the Almighty.

We all live at some point

      with darkness and storms.

How we respond depends on

   with whom we are walking

   and what we are holding onto.

If we grasp temporal happiness,

         or our stuff, or selfishness, 

   or idols we don't think are idols,

      we will go down with the ship.

God teaches us

     how to face the darkness

     and walk through it

   with a heart changed by Him.

God never intended for us

          to dwell there.

Seek God, listen, respond,

and take a step with Him,

   one and then another.

God guides us

              always right to Him.

The darkness will not always 

           be this way,

    but He is with us.

Our eyes don't just adjust,

         or we get used to it,

but we see and walk differently.

O LORD,

Hold our hands in these shadows

   and through this dark place.

Help us to trust You even here,

          even in this,

knowing You are with us.

Turn our eyes upon You.

Make our night turn to day

  and may we be changed by 

  Your Presence.

Empower us to

           see in the dark.

A Way That Is Not The Same

 

...not by earthly wisdom

but by the grace of God...

             2 Corinthians 1. 12

Stop.

Let's think through this

   in a way that is not the same.

Because when we walk with Jesus,

we approach differently

our circumstances and encounters,

the ordinary and familiar,

the strange and our struggles,

not molded by the world,

but with hearts changed by God Himself.

By the grace of God,

His strength is woven into our souls

and He reveals a whole 

               new way through it.

Circumstances may or may not change.

    But He changes us inside and out.

May others see His grace in us

       and be strengthened by it.

Earthly wisdom seeks a name for oneself,

            to be known and valued.

Abiding in God's grace, seeks His name

      and His glory in every situation.

May we know Him more

           and write His name all over it.

How are we seeing

  what is before us by His grace?

What can we do differently? 

O LORD,

You have opened a fresh new day,

even in the midst of ongoing

         struggles and problems.

Help us to walk with You,

not by how the world says

    we should act or react,

but by how Your grace

       changes our response.

Be glorified in this day.

And empower us

            with Your grace in it.

Help us to not seek right choices,

       but to seek You.

Guide us in unexpected ways

    for Your Kingdom

    and in Your holy name

with Your grace poured all over it.

His Anointing And His Appointing

 

For He will complete

what He appoints for me,

and many such things

are in His mind.

             Job 23. 14

We are just in the middle

of the story God has written

                in our lives.

It is not that things just happen,

or it will all turn out

           or fit together,

but God completes

   what He appoints.

God is already completing 

        His work in us

   in ways we cannot comprehend.

What we deem unimportant

   may be the most significant of all.

We have but to be faithful

  as God fulfills His eternal purposes,

unfolds His glory,

and reveals

     what only He can do. 

O LORD,

We cannot know what is ahead,

but we can follow You into it.

Grant to us Your wisdom

                and courage today

   in these divine appointments,

         sacred encounters,

    and even the familiar.

When we are faithful

                 in the ordinary,

   You strengthen us for the eternal.

You anoint and You appoint. 

Never An Individual Serving

 

...the Father of mercies

and God of all comfort,

who comforts us

      in all our affliction,

so that we may be able

to comfort those 

  who are in any affliction

with the comfort

which we ourselves

    are comforted by God.

            2 Corinthians 1. 3-4

The comfort God gives us

     is never an individual serving,

but abides by God's

 fundamental law of mercy --

it gets all over everyone,

never meant to be limited

   to only our own needs.

God comforts us 

that we may be able

 and know how to comfort others,

equipped with compassion,

a pound cake,

   and a first-aid kit.

We don't just know

      how the hardship feels

   --been there, done that.

But we know the mercy of God,

   our need for community,

and to find grace to help

    in time of need.

              Hebrews 4. 16

It is not a weakness 

            to need help,

no shame in asking for help,

no sin in accepting it.

O LORD,

Cover us with Your mercy,

  grace and comfort

that we may in turn

be prepared and willing

   to be used by You

in the lives of

   all those around us.

Make us aware of needs,

    even carefully disguised

    or denied,

that we may love others

     right into Your arms.

Your comfort

   saturates all the way through.

May we comfort others

   not just with Hallmark sentiments

but in tangible ways 

          that say I love you.

               

Going Forth Differently

 

On the first day of the week,

each of you is to put

   something aside

   and store it up

as he may prosper....

          1 Corinthians 16. 2

The first day of the week

in the New Testament

   referred to Sunday,

the sabbath day of rest

              and worship.

Worshiping God

  changes us from the inside out,

equips and prepares us

for yet another amazing week,

   walking now with Him

             through each day.

Not "oh no, another week,"

   but oh good, another week,

seeing, grasping, seizing it

       as precious as it is.

Our hearts are realigned.

Our vision altered.

Our strength renewed.

Our pockets stuffed

           with love and grace.

We cannot help but 

        go differently

   into His days for us.

We worship God through our work.

But worshiping God

         triggers that response.

O LORD,

As we worship You,

empower us to grasp hold

      of Your truth and grace,

to not just put something aside

          and store it up,

but approach and navigate

   what is before us

with hearts refreshed

   and strengthened by You.

May our worshiping You

       change us,

sustain us,

and get all over 

   every part of our lives

for Your glory

           in this very day.

All This Darkness is a Small and Passing Thing

 

For I know

that my Redeemer lives

and at the last

He will stand upon the earth.

And after my skin has been

thus destroyed,

yet in my flesh,

     I shall see God.

          Job 19. 25-26

Job is probably one of 

  the most avoided books

            in Scripture,

not that it is so unattainable,

      but unfathomable

                 in its truth.

And we fear the hard stuff.

But after all the harsh realities

   that Job endures,

he does not just point to God,

   but Job knows Him a little more.

Redeemer comes with a capital R,

  past, present, future tense.

God Himself is freeing us

      from these calamities

and drawing us to Himself. 

He is with us now

       even in the hard stuff.

He is also with us

   on a through line to the end,

which is actually

    a new beginning.

"All this darkness is

    a small and passing thing."

                 (JRR Tolkien)

Walk with Jesus.

He is the light.

     He is the Redeemer.

O LORD,

Every one of us struggles

   with something visible

            or invisible,

sometimes that which we 

   cannot even put words to.

We may not understand

     even a smidgen of it,

but we can know You.

We don't just think

     or imagine or believe,

but we can know 

  You are the living God.

And that reality

         changes everything.

Help us to live that out

     before others today.

Slaying Invisible Dragons

 

In the thought of one

who is at ease

there is contempt

          for misfortune.

            Job 12. 5

It is so easy for us 

        to be critical

when it is not us

    who are struggling.

May the Lord 

        change our triggers

that we would instead

    pray for 

    and help when we can.

God intends for us

  to let compassion

            alter our eyesight

            and our actions.

We have no idea

   what others are going through,

nor the invisible dragons they face.

Why would someone choose 

                     to act like that?

Because they are not us.

O LORD,

Soften our hearts

and change our minds

   about those around us.

Help us to not criticize

or analyze,

but to reach out

             and help others.

You touched so many people,

   because You saw them

                       differently.

Empower us to do the same

in some small way  

    which is never small at all.

We can't walk a mile

               in their shoes.

But You do.